Friday 10 December 2010Ken Maher featured in Sydney Magazine's 100 Most Influential People

HASSELL Chairman, Professor Ken Maher LFRAIA, FAILA, FAPI has been featured in Sydney Magazine's list of 100 Most Influential People, published in December 2010.

"He's of critical importance to what will happen to Sydney over the next two decades," said Top 100 panellist Steve Pozel.

Ken won the Australian Institute of Architects' Gold Medal in 2009 and the Australian Institute of Landscape Architects' top award in 2010 – making him the only person to have been recognised with both awards.

This recognition is testament to Ken's achievements as a design professional whose focus encompasses architecture, landscape architecture and urban design.

Commenting on his inclusion in the list, Ken said, "I am surprised and delighted to be acknowledged. I believe this reflects the value of architecture, landscape architecture and design to the future of our communities especially given the need for more compact, sustainable and beautiful cities."

Popular design, lifestyle and luxury website TheCoolist.com recently published their 10 Best Works of Architecture in 2010 list, which included the award-winning ANZ Centre in Melbourne, Australia.

The Centre is described on TheCoolist.com as "a success in both interior elegance and sustainable systems, a prime example of an office building that can be pleasing to the eye and the environment. 6,500 employees of ANZ spend their work days in this office, which is more of a mixed use space than a traditional work environment. ANZ Centre features a varied collection of spaces for personal work, cooperative spaces for impromptu meetings and relaxation spaces for dining and entertainment. On the sustainable side, ANZ Centre includes solar and wind power production, river-based cooling systems, blackwater recycling, rainwater reuse and a green roof at its peak. This building is a significant success in elegance and eco-consciousness.

The new HASSELL studio in Shanghai, PR China, was officially opened on Wednesday 17 November. Among the distinguished guests attending the opening were Australian Consul General, Tom Connor, and Australian Institute of Architects CEO, David Parken.

"Our studio breathes new life into a former motorcycle factory and integrates innovative and sustainable workplace design to create an energetic and creative space accommodating a team of 130 with room to grow," said Shanghai-based HASSELL Director Peter Duncan.

The event was also the preview of a new joint publication by Revealbooks and the Australian Institute of Architects, INSPIRE Australian National Architecture Awards 2010. INSPIRE will be a series of books to be published over the next decade that will showcase Australian National Architecture Award (ANAA) winning projects from around Australia.

HASSELL is proud to announce that Adelaide Zoo Entrance Precinct has won two awards at the 2010 DIA (Design Institute of Australia) Interior Design Awards, held on Friday 12 November.

The Entrance Precinct project won the Gold Award and President's Award, capping off what has been an exciting year for the Adelaide Zoo with multiple award wins and recognition from around the world.

"The DIA nurtures and celebrates collaborative design and it is an honour to be recognised for the Adelaide Zoo Entrance Precinct which aims to blur the boundaries between interior and exterior architecture," said Mary White, HASSELL Principal.

In presenting the DIA Gold Award, the jury noted, "The three disciplines of Interior Architecture, Architecture and Landscape Architecture were seamlessly integrated to produce an iconic world class built environment for South Australia...This distinguished project sets the new benchmark for excellence in Australian civic architecture and design."

The jury presenting the President's Award commented that, "The Zoo project is a great example of successful collaboration, innovation and well considered design for both the client and end use."

HASSELL is proud to announce two award wins at the 2010 Interior Design Excellence Awards (IDEA), held in Sydney on 11 November. Leo Burnett (Sydney, Australia) won the Best Commercial Project under 1,000 sqm category, while ANZ Centre (Melbourne, Australia) won Best Major Commercial Project over 1,000 sqm.

In presenting the award for Leo Burnett, the jury noted that, "HASSELL once again struck gold with their interior design for ad agency Leo Burnett. Not surprisingly, the task at hand was to express the creative potential of the company and its work, through an interior that is both challenging and stimulating; an office interior which by analogy reflects the agency's dynamic output."

Commenting on ANZ Centre, the jury said, "The ANZ building defines the very essence of tomorrow's healthy, human focused working environment. The building blurs the lines between public and private with most of its ground level open to the public, in a manner that is unprecedented, not only in Australia, but perhaps the world...As an urban campus ANZ is not only a great place to work, it adds to the interior public spaces of the city in a unique and highly successful manner."

The Interior Design Excellence Awards (IDEA) showcase some of the best Australian interior design.

HASSELL has been awarded an Australian Institute of Landscape Architects (Victoria) award in the Planning category for the Meadowlink project.

The project was commissioned by the Department of Education and Early Childhood Development, Department of Planning and Community Development, Department of Transport and Hume City Council.

The master plan document focuses on the creation of a linear parkland and metropolitan cycle trail connection corridor from the Merlynston Creek to Moonee Ponds Creek that encompasses the Broadmeadows Regeneration Schools and other CAD urban renewal projects.

Via the concept of biological diversity corridors, the document provides proposals that are intended to act as a guide for the regeneration of the Meadowlink corridor and its surrounds, creating strong communities that are socially and ecologically rich.

The awards jury noted that Meadowlink is: "Another example of a project emerging from a design-led strategic position. The master plan document is evocative in its thinking and representation and challenges our ideas of traditional passive open space in order to create a long linear space of multiple design opportunities that is focused on community and environmental benefit."

HASSELL celebrated the official opening of its new Singapore studio on Thursday 11 November.

The Singapore studio will work in close partnership with the existing network of 11 HASSELL studios to meet the ever growing demand for high quality design in Singapore and across South East Asia.

Philip Hannaford, HASSELL director, who has relocated from Bangkok to Singapore as the Director responsible for the South East Asia region said, "The expanded regional presence through our new Singapore studio enables HASSELL to broaden the innovative design service we can offer to Singapore clients locally and importantly back into the region."

This latest expansion in South East Asia follows a growth model HASSELL has found effective in developing its five studios across China, which operate as a consolidated team working with clients across North Asia.

"Our regional model allows us to offer new and existing clients excellent access to our Asian and Australian talent in the region, with the comfort of being able to work alongside local teams with local knowledge," said Mr Hannaford.

HASSELL is pleased to announce that ANZ Centre has been named the 'Interiors and Fit-Out of the Year' at this year's World Architecture Festival.

ANZ Centre, located in Melbourne's Docklands, is a vibrant and dynamic urban campus workplace housing more than 6,000 people.

"The recognition of this project on the world stage owes in large part to our client's aspirational brief that allowed us to realise a bold new direction for workplace design - and a benchmark in social and environmental sustainability," said HASSELL Managing Director Robert Backhouse.

The World Architecture Festival Awards jury described ANZ Centre as: "conceptually ambitious, and rich in plan and section in its diversity of workplaces. The result is a distinctive personality appropriate to an institution with a modern perspective. It accommodates the most contemporary ideas of workplace planning and has excellent green credentials. The building is superbly crafted and carries the spirit of a respected institution forward into a modern open and accessible one."

The 2010 World Architecture Festival Awards were presented in Barcelona on 5 November and attracted more than 500 entries from 61 different countries.

“We are passionate about the value of design – especially multidisciplinary, collaborative design – and we’re honoured and humbled to have received this acknowledgement,” said Robert Backhouse, Managing Director.

HASSELL received three awards – including Australia’s highest award for public architecture – at the Australian Institute of Architecture Awards presented in Canberra on 28 October 2010.

“We are passionate about the value of design – especially multidisciplinary, collaborative design – and we’re honoured and humbled to have received this acknowledgement,” said Robert Backhouse, Managing Director.

The Adelaide Zoo Entrance Precinct has been awarded a Highly Commended BPN Sustainability Award, announced in Sydney on 13 October 2010. Now in its fourth year, the Awards continue to reward designers, builders and manufacturers for best practice in sustainability.

Incorporating a number of leading environmental sustainable initiatives, the Adelaide Zoo Entrance Precinct competed in the Public Building and Urban Design Category and was commended by the judges for its achievements in one of Australia's driest cities.

The judges stated that: 'The complete integration of appropriate landscape with buildings makes an environment that is not only energy and water efficient, but which also provides a renewing and inspiring experience for visitors. They will be stimulated whilst there and will come away saying, "I can do that". This will encourage more people to engage with the incredible opportunities the Australian landscape offers.'

HASSELL Chairman, Professor Ken Maher FAILA, has been awarded the prestigious Australian Award in Landscape Architecture at the AILA National Awards Ceremony held in Sydney on 24 September. The award citation acknowledges Ken's "outstanding lifetime contribution to the sensible, sensitive and sustainable design of urban places, spaces and buildings." Ken was also recognised for his high-quality project work and leadership in the community and education. Earlier this month, Ken received an AILA Fellowship for his outstanding and ongoing commitment to the profession and the built environment through leadership in practice and national advocacy as well as his academic contributions.

Along with last year's Gold Medal from the Australian Institute of Architects, these two accolades, not previously awarded to one individual, are testament to Ken's achievements as a design professional whose focus encompasses architecture, landscape architecture and urban design. Like HASSELL, Ken's multidisciplinary approach is his strength, and these recent honours are ones that both Ken and HASSELL may be justly proud.

HASSELL is pleased to announce that two of our projects have been shortlisted in the prestigious FX International Interior Design Awards – ANZ Centre in the Workspace Environment category and Cascade Coil in the Museum or Exhibition Space category. This annual awards program attracts entrants from around the world, and we have previously been successful with Macquarie Bank and ISPT both receiving Commendations.

These short listings come just days after our recent success at the Emirates Glass LEAF Awards held in London, where ANZ Centre won Commercial Building of the Year.

The winners of the FX Awards will be announced in London on 30 November.

ANZ Centre in Melbourne has been the recipient of a prestigious Emirates Glass LEAF Award (Leading European Architects Forum), winning the Commercial Building of the Year, with the winners announced in London on 10 September 2010. In addition, ANZ Centre was one of four short-listed projects in the International Interior Design category.

The Leading European Architects Forum, or LEAF, brings together leading international architectural practices and designers. Their annual awards program is a highlight of the international awards calendar attracting hundreds of entries from around the world.

In their citation, the judges said:"There cannot be too many banking headquarters in the world that are as open and permeable as the ANZ Centre in Melbourne, Australia. Make no mistake – this IS a truly commercial building but it also incorporates a raft of first-time green initiatives...The dramatic and playful interiors combined with a strong approach to sustainability placed this as a clear category winner. The judges believe this is a building that will set a global environmental and social sustainability benchmark for others to follow.

Friday 3 September 2010Ken Maher honoured with a Fellowship of the Australian Institute of Landscape Architects

The AILA National Council has awarded the AILA Fellowship to HASSELL Chairman Ken Maher for his outstanding and ongoing commitment to the profession and the built environment through leadership in practice and national advocacy as well as his influential academic contributions.

Ken is one of eight candidates who have been awarded AILA Fellowships for 2010.

These AILA Fellows have been nominated from within National Council and include Registered Landscape Architects who have made and continue to make contributions to Landscape Architecture. The AILA Fellowship is a special national honour bestowed for significant contributions by the individual registered member in recognition of distinguished services to the Institute and/or the profession in Australia.

HASSELL received two awards in at the AILA National Awards presentation this week. The Darwin Waterfront Master Plan, a mixed-use urban community project, earned a Planning award. The judges noted that the scheme "re-conceptualises its relationship to the city, extends city street patterns to a new harbour front precinct while also reflecting Darwin's unique cultural and landscape heritage."

'Placesforme', an initiative of the Young Designers Group in our Perth studio, was acknowledged in the Research and Communications category, the citation recording: "The jury was excited about this as a prototype for exploring collaborative and potentially more accessible public participation, one that is not so time and place specific. In particular, 'placesforme' presents an ideal platform for enabling young people to have a louder voice."

The citation also notes that "the built landscape and form of our cities has benefited greatly from Ken Maher's prodigious talent and generous commitment."

David Tsui, Principal in the HASSELL Hong Kong studio, has been named one of the Ten Outstanding Designers for 2010 at the Hong Kong Art and Design Festival, winning the Spatial Design category. The award, organised by the Hong Kong Communication Art Centre was presented at a gala dinner held on 24 July and embraces ten professional categories including Graphic, Fashion, Product and Jewellery. The Ten Outstanding Designers Awards have been held since 2005 and are structured around the following objectives:

_To recognise and honour designers with outstanding performances in the industry

_To stimulate designers to work towards personal career goals and contribute to the industry

_To encourage active participation in community service and social responsibility amongst designers.

Ken Maher, HASSELL Chairman, joined a distinguished panel of industry leaders at this year's BEMP summit, held at Parliament House in Canberra in June 2010.

This annual event, hosted by Consult Australia, Australian Institute of Architects, Green Building Council Australia, Planning Institute of Australia and Property Council of Australia, brings together industry leaders and parliamentarians and provides them with the opportunity to explore issues pertaining to the economic, social, environmental, and governance issues that help shape national prosperity.

This year's event focused on the findings in a report commissioned by KPMG: Spotlight on Australia's Capital Cities: An Independent Audit of City Planning Systems.

Four focus sessions were convened to respond to the central finding in the report.

Responding to the challenge that the frameworks of the past are no longer working, Ken Maher, along with Ed Blakely, University of Sydney, Rob Adams, City of Melbourne, and Jennifer Weston, KPMG, addressed the topic: Breakthrough Strategies for Australia @ 35 million.

Proposing that 'only design-led urban renewal can achieve a socially sustainable future Australia for 35 million', Ken put forward a tri-part solution as the basis for a new planning model:

HASSELL hosted a series of presentations focused on the sustainable future development of cities across our Australian studios during June 2010.

The forums, titled 'Greening the Greyfields', featured two of this country's leading thinkers on urban sustainability.

Professor Peter Newman of Curtin University of Technology in Western Australia and Professor Peter Newton of Swinburne University of Technology in Melbourne discussed how 'greyfield' redevelopment will contribute to the sustainable development of Australian cities.

"Greyfields are the ageing occupied residential tracts of suburbs that are physically, technologically and environmentally failing...typically found in a five to 25 kilometre radius of the centre of each capital city," explained Professor Peter Newton.

Both speakers contribute to the Cooperative Research Centre for Spatial Information, and their instructive and thought-provoking presentations were the outcome of key research undertaken as part of the CRCSI program.

HASSELL has received a total of five awards for its work on the Adelaide Zoo Entrance Precinct and Giant Panda Forest at the Australian Institute of Architects, South Australia Architecture Awards held on Friday 2 July.

The recently completed Entrance Precinct won one of the state's top architecture honours – the Jack McConnell Award for Public Architecture – making this the third year running that a HASSELL project has been recognised with the award.

Mariano DeDuonni, Managing Principal of HASSELL, said to win this prestigious award for the third time was not only an outstanding achievement, it had special significance for the practice. "Jack McConnell was central to the foundation and growth of HASSELL and this award is the ultimate recognition that we continue to embody his theories and principles today," Mr DeDuonni said.

The Entrance Precinct also received the Robert Dickson Award for Interior Architecture, along with two Architecture Awards, one for Urban Design and a second for Sustainability. In announcing the awards, the jury noted: "HASSELL has considered every detail of this public domain with particular attention on the experiential quality of the entrance."

The Giant Panda Forest also received a Commendation for Public Architecture.

ANZ Centre, designed by HASSELL and Lend Lease design, has been honoured with the prestigious Marion Mahony Award for Interior Architecture and a Commercial Architecture Award. Presented at the 2010 Victorian Architecture Awards Presentation Dinner on Friday 25 June, the awards recognise ANZ Centre as a "beautifully executed project."

In announcing the awards, the judges described ANZ Centre as: "A finely drawn building that successfully embodies client aspirations, sustainability, adaptable workplace and perhaps the new face of Collins Street."

The judges also noted that: "ANZ Centre is the largest 6 star green commercial office building in Australia. Briefed, designed and constructed over a five-year period, this is an exemplary project demonstrating the highest levels of commitment and stamina from a multidisciplinary team of interior designers, industrial designers, graphic designers, architects and landscape architects."

"The project demonstrates a thorough understanding of the craft of design, from the importance of briefing, to conceptualisation, design development, service coordination and ultimately to site supervision. It is highly evident that every aspect of the project has been rigorously explored and understood."

"As the profession, and the quality of the built environment, struggles against the demands for abbreviated construction programs or partial design services, it is refreshing to be reminded of what can be achieved when there is an alignment of budget, an informed client, a committed builder and an experienced and imaginative design team."

Wednesday 23 June 2010HASSELL contributes to London Festival of Architecture 2010

The HASSELL contribution to the biennial London Festival of Architecture (LFA) 2010 explores the importance of 'place' through design, focusing on the island of Rottnest (Wadjemup) off the coast of Western Australia.

The 16-day Festival, which opened on 20 June, includes more than 300 events expected to attract 250,000 visitors to a variety of installations, exhibitions, debates and dialogue,

Titled 'Emoh Ruo' which read backwards is 'Our Home', the HASSELL exhibit is about landscape, memory and experience represented through a series of experiential frames. It presents a place of constant transmutation and erosional geological processes – the cycle of making and collapse.

An island that is remote from an island continent, Rottnest (Wadjemup) is an artefact of change, an erosional landform, a 'karst'. For over 500,000 visitors a year Rottnest is a place of treasured memories and experience. Home to Aboriginal people for thousands of years, Wadjemup was separated by a rising sea 6,500 years ago. Only the remnant deposits of limestone, dune substrate and ancient inland lakes connect it to mainland Australia. Colonial settlers made it a wall-less prison for the indigenous population and hundreds of lives were lost as a result of hard labour.

The HASSELL/Trackstar Alliance project, Robina to Varsity Lakes Rail Extension – Varsity Lakes Station has won the prestigious Queensland State Award for Urban Design. The award, presented by the Australian Institute of Architects on Saturday 19 June recognised the project as an innovative and progressive example of station design.

In presenting the award the jury commented that "The Robina Rail Station is a carefully considered, carefully resolved and extremely vigorous piece of public architecture. As well, through respect and adherence to the Varsity Lakes Master Plan, it is designed and sited to eventually cope with large numbers of people, and as such, the spaces provided, materials used are robust and durable.

The building reflects a contemporary "sub tropical" architectural idiom which is reflected in the simple well resolved planning of the facility. The planning is instantly and clearly legible, and allows rail users to intuitively find their way to the railway platforms. The Robina Rail Station is intended to become the hub of a transit oriented development surrounding the station; as such it clearly communicates its civic role. Sustainable ingredients in the design such as rainwater harvesting, solar energy generation, and future proofing for further expansion, as well as regular maintenance, extends previous train station design to a new level."

The Epping to Chatswood Rail Link (ECRL) won prestigious public architecture prize, the Sulman Award, at the 2010 Australian Institute of Architecture New South Wales Awards on Friday 18 June.

ECRL is a $2.35 billion, 17km expansion of the Sydney metropolitan rail network, providing world class stations at Epping, Macquarie University, Macquarie Park and North Ryde.

In announcing the award, the judging panel said: "The four stations that make up the Epping to Chatswood Rail Link set a new benchmark for transport design in Australia. They are an elegant and innovative integration of engineering and architecture, where technical challenges and complexities have inspired rather than constrained the outcome. While the station planning is highly rational and easy for all users to understand, the spatial experience is rich and exciting."

The brief for the project was to design "the next generation of transportation excellence". Beyond this mandate we sought to create safe, efficient and inviting rail stations that seamlessly fuse architecture and engineering into a suite of memorable transport hubs to capture the spirit and excitement of travel. We aspired to create infrastructure that is civic in character, a transformative and urbane project for Sydney.

The result is a highly legible brand for underground rail travel in Sydney that is instantly recognisable, confidently marking the place of the stations in their local areas. This brand is modern - embodying quality and manifesting sustainability.

"Our visionary client allowed us to prove that rail travel can be as comfortable and attractive as air travel, that the Epping to Chatswood Rail Link is a cost effective and sustainable mass transit system and that rail stations are worthy public buildings that can instil pride and give pleasure to the public," said HASSELL Principal Ross de la Motte.

The stations, which have a 100 year design life; have removed more than 20,000 vehicle movements a day from the city's roads and are a profoundly significant investment in Sydney's future.

HASSELL has previously won Sulman Awards for its Olympic Park Railway Station project (1998) and the National Institute of Dramatic Arts (2002) which was won in collaboration with Peter Armstrong Architecture. The Sulman award is the state of NSW's top public architecture award and was first introduced in 1932.

SA Water House was named the Development of the Year at the Property Council's annual Rider Levett Bucknall Innovation and Excellence Awards on Thursday 10 June 2010.

The 6 Star Green Star rated building located on Victoria Square in Adelaide is a landmark sustainable workplace that achieves significant energy and water efficiencies and provides a healthy, collaborative working environment.

In announcing the award, Property Council South Australia Executive Director Nathan Paine said: "To SA Water, Hassell Architects, Hansen Yuncken and the Catholic Church as owner, this award is testament to commitment and a vision that survived the counter pressures of economic expediency to create a true long-term asset the whole state can enjoy and call their own".

The Sky City Expansion Project was awarded the Peter Dermoudy Award for Commercial Architecture and the COLORBOND Award for Steel Architecture at the Australian Institute of Architects' Northern Territory Architecture Awards on Friday 11 June 2010.

Commenting on the Sky City Expansion Project, the jury said: "The structure seemingly floats in space with the help of elegantly tapered 'v' shaped steel columns that provide a contemporary yet complementary portico to the original shape of the casino. Excellent site planning, external detailing and interior design combine to give this facility an international image without compromising the unique Darwin landscape and seascape".

Jury Chair, John Mainwaring said: "The Sky City expansion of the Casino is the beginning of a series of major improvements to this key Darwin social and economic driver at Mindil Beach. The additions have set up Sky City as a major international player in the region and contributes to make Darwin a major tourist node in the southern Asia region".

The Sky City Expansion successfully integrates several activity centres with one another and the adjacent seascape, achieving magnificent sea and sky views while also maximising connectivity, way-finding, flexibility and commercial efficiency.

The Charles Darwin University Chancellery Building was awarded the two top honours at the Australian Institute of Architects' Northern Territory Architecture Awards on Friday 11 June 2010.

The project – which is the result of a three year collaboration between HASSELL and Charles Darwin University – was awarded both the prestigious 2010 Tracy Memorial Award and the Reverend John Flynn Award for Public Architecture.

In presenting the awards, 2010 NT Awards Chairman John Mainwaring said: "The Charles Darwin University (CDU) Chancellery Building is a very modern approach to a tropical building, which has been designed with working space wings either side of a central glazed atrium which acts like an internal court or street offering a generous and inviting space to campus users."

Mr Mainwaring added: "The controversial decision to choose modernist typology over the contemporary Darwin vernacular for this key building on the CDU campus has paid off. The impressive scale of the exterior and internal public spaces combine successfully with a permeability and democracy of access and movement that establish it as a true public facility, and serve to reflect the vision and values of Charles Darwin University."

The chancellery establishes a new civic presence for the university – one that welcomes students, staff and visitors, and showcases CDU's commitment to excellence in art, culture and education.

At the 27th Annual International Lighting Design Awards held in Las Vegas, USA, on 13 May, the HASSELL designed Epping to Chatswood Rail Link received an Award of Merit. It was one of only two Australian projects to win an award among the 23 winning projects from 12 countries.

Lighting designers PointOfView accepted the award on behalf of the team. "The strength of architecture and the collaborative spirit through design development were essential ingredients to the success of the project," noted David Becker, Director, PointOfView.

Of the project, the judges observed: "Looking at the architecture alone, one is captivated by the use of materials and the overall elegance of the design. On closer examination, you start to see that the lighting solutions are quite clever in the way they distribute light throughout the space."

Spring Street Residence received a Commendation in both the Residential Design and Residential Decoration categories. The interior is designed to maximise the benefits of open plan living while maintaining appropriate levels of privacy for designated spaces and individual rooms. Rugs extend beyond the boundaries of rooms, visually connecting one space to another while addressing acoustic requirements and providing warmth and intimacy. Floor and table lamps supplement the lighting strategy adding another layer of decoration in this relatively austere interior. The simplicity of spaces is balanced with artwork mounted on walls and freestanding on plinths, using exhibition techniques. To view Spring Street Residence click here.

Advertising agency Leo Burnett also received a Commendation in the Corporate Design category. Designed to create a comfortable work place, the space reflects the core social and interactive nature of the way a creative agency works. The layout is open, spacious and filled with natural light. Spaces are designed to be thought provoking and inspiring for the 'generation of big ideas'.

dtac House, designed by HASSELL, has been recognised in the Asia Pacific Commercial Property Awards. The new regional headquarters received a Highly Commended Award in the Best Interior Design Thailand category.

The Asia Pacific Property Awards 2010 in association with Bloomberg Television were announced at a gala dinner in Hong Kong on 16 April. These International Property Awards celebrate the highest levels of achievement by companies operating in all sectors of the property and real estate industry.

Terra Form Australis by HASSELL, Holopoint and The Environment Institute, is one of the 17 proposals selected for display at the Australian Pavilion at the 2010 Venice Architecture Biennale. The two-part 'NOW + WHEN Australian Urbanism' exhibition will highlight six of Australia's most interesting urban and anti-urban regions.

The NOW component of the exhibition will illustrate the chosen region in its current form, while the WHEN depicts a dramatic futuristic scenario of same location in 2050 and beyond. The proposals are deliberately controversial, and will be presented as a dynamic soundscape projected as high impact 3D stereoscopic images.

Inside magazine's feature, Me and My Chair, includes 15 designers, architects and creative professionals and their chairs. HASSELL Managing Director Robert Backhouse selected 'La Chaise' by Charles and Ray Eames saying, "as designers we should not be afraid to design things that are challenging, experimental or even just beautiful and represent the era in which we live."

ANZ's new global headquarters in Melbourne's Docklands is attracting interest from sustainability experts who have recognised it as a benchmark for green buildings.

The 6 Star Green Star rated ANZ Centre includes a range of innovations to minimise carbon emissions and to support a healthy workplace.

The building's environmentally sustainable features include wind turbines, solar panels, a green roof, gas-generated electricity, water recycling, proximity to public transport and bicycle spaces.

Philip Hopkins' feature article in The Age discusses the balancing act that takes place when designing a sustainable building to realise both short-term gains in daily running costs and the long-term objective of lengthening the building's lifecycle.

The article also highlights some of the benefits of sustainable buildings according to Deakin University senior lecturer Dr Sara Wilkinson who points to research to suggest "sustainable buildings result in a lower rate of staff turnover, higher productivity and less absenteeism for employers - a win, win, win."

The ANZ Centre is the largest single-tenanted commercial building in the southern hemisphere. It will house 6,500 employees and opened in November 2009.

HASSELL is one of the 24 teams to be shortlisted for display at the 2010 Venice Architecture Biennale. The creative directors, John Gollings and Ivan Rijavec, received 129 submissions in a national competition, Designs for Australian Cities 2050+, run by the Australian Institute of Architects. The competition brief focuses on three of Australia's most interesting urban regions – Sydney, Melbourne and Surfers Paradise, as they are 'now', and as they may be 'when' we reach 2100.

The HASSELL team, which includes Professor Mike Young from the University of Adelaide and Ben Kilsby from Holopoint, will now proceed to Stage 2 of the design competition to develop and refine their design. Twelve entries will be selected for display in the two-part NOW + WHEN Australian Urbanism exhibition to be held at the Australian Pavilion in Venice in September 2010. The winning entries will be presented as a dynamic soundscape projected as high impact 3D stereoscopic images.

Over the last 15 years, the World Architecture survey of global practices, published in association with the London-based Building Design magazine, has become the leading indicator of how the global architectural profession is developing. In the 2010 report, HASSELL has been ranked number 25 in the world's 100 biggest practices.

HASSELL is a multidisciplinary design practice with studios throughout Australia and the Asia Pacific region. We are ranked number one in Australasia. HASSELL is in the top ten in various market sectors – Business Parks/Offices, Criminal Justice and Transportation. In areas of expertise, it is in the top ten for Interior Design and Landscape Architecture.

Our strong position is as a result of the expertise, design talent and commitment we offer our clients in the region. Our scale provides the capacity to deliver a broad range of projects, from small crafted commissions right through to some of the largest most complex developments in Australasia. Whilst scale isn't everything, we believe it reflects our success in working with our clients to achieve great outcomes.

Space, or a design of a space, is a subtle art. It can shock and awe. It can beguile and bewitch. Robb Report

Sports venues must be iconic yet functional

Well-designed and accessible sports venues can prolong the buildings' life, says architect John Pauline. The Straits Times

Esperence Waterfront has its future solidified by HASSELL

Esperance, located 720 kilometres South-East of Perth, may not be the biggest city in Western Australia, but it is blessed with the country’s favourite asset – clean beaches and clear waters.Architecture and Design

Reinventing unused spaces and turning them into parks

A major exhibition series titled Parks Changing Australia, spearheaded by the Australian Institute of Landscape Architects (AILA), will tell the stories of Sydney’s most progressive new parks and their interstate counterparts. Domain.com.au

Galleries need to move away from the traditional white box

The Louvre doesn’t do it, and neither does the Guggenheim. The Tate Modern’s new galleries make a good job of it, and the Hepworth Wakefield contemporary art gallery in Yorkshire gets close.Adelaide Review

The Great Room features in Wallpaper*

Wallpaper* visits SIngapore's newest flexible workplace designed by HASSELL, The Great Room. Wallpaper*

The Art of Business Travel

Aviation expert and principal at Hassell design studio Mark Wolfe talks with Nick Walton about terminal design, changing the traveller’s experience, sustainability, and the airports of the future.The Art of Business Travel

Finger paintings

HASSELL creates intimate spaces with a huge former warehouse to enable guests and visitors to 'gather and connect'. FX Magazine

Dennis Ho on Monocle Radio

Hong Kong’s booming infrastructure projects pull in architects from all over the world. Dennis Ho moved back to Hong Kong earlier this year after spending more than 20 years working for London-based architecture firm Rogers Stirk Harvour + Partners. We visit him at his new digs in North Point.Monocle 24.